Court shoots down $1M bail for ex-DJ Arnold

WEST CHESTER – The Pennsylvania Superior Court has vacated an earlier order from a Philadelphia judge that raised bail for convicted district judge Rita Jo Ann Arnold to $1 million from $100,000.

In a ruling on Friday, the court in essence said Judge John L. Braxton had no reason to raise the bail from $100,000 to $1 million.

“Upon consideration of the ‘Emergency Petition For Review From The Order Of The Trial Court Increasing And Setting Excessive Bail Pending Appeal,’ and the statement ... filed by the Honorable John L. Braxton, the reasons provided in the ... statement were not sufficient to support an increase in bail from $100,000 to $1,000,000. The December 19, 2013 trial court order increasing bail to $1,000,000 is VACATED.”

Braxton, who had sentenced Arnold to more than a year in state prison and then raised her bail to $1 million as she appealed the punishment while out on $100,000 bail, said he believed that amount was neither excessive nor a hardship on her.

The judge said that the sole argument against the bail he set last month “is its sum.” Any financial hardships that Arnold expressed in her motion to reduce bail “were not voiced to this court for consideration, and we continue to believe there is no hardship,” Braxton said in a legal memorandum, ordered last month by the state Superior Court to explain his reason for increasing Arnold’s bail.

In the recent opinion Braxton said that Arnold’s request last month for a sentence reduction presented him with “no new evidence” that would cause him to rethink the 16-to-32-month jail term he imposed on the former Downingtown Magisterial District Court judge.

Although Braxton said he initially was inclined to deny Arnold any bail on her appeal of the sentence because he did not believe it would be successful, he decided to give her the chance to continue with medical treatment for her breast cancer at home. But because she did not present any evidence to show that the $1 million was a hardship, he did not see how it could be considered excessive.

Arnold’s “inconvenience and preference to obtain treatment while at home is not a hardship,” he said. “We again emphasize the lack of evidence to support the finding that (Arnold) cannot meet the higher bail. She herself offered none.”

Arnold, 57, of West Bradford pleaded guilty last year to two misdemeanor counts of obstruction of the administration of justice and tampering with records, both counts stemming from her efforts to conceal a summary citation issued to one of her sons that she believed would harm his position at a probation hearing.

Braxton’s sentence in October of 16-to-32 months in state prison was far above what the state’s standard sentencing guidelines called for in the case. Eakin filed an appeal afterward and asked Braxton to reconsider his sentence. At the time, he set bail at $100,000 cash, which she posted.

In addition to explaining his thoughts on the bail, Braxton also said that at the hearing on the reconsideration motion, the only evidence that Eakin presented on Arnold’s behalf was testimony from her general physician, Dr. Bruce Colley, whom he did not consider a medical expert able to testify about the specifics of Arnold’s chemotherapy.

Under questioning from Eakin, Colley had said that Arnold suffers from severe breast cancer and needs regular chemotherapy. If not available at one of the two state correctional facilities that house female convicts, she is likely to die in prison, he said.

About the Author

Andy Hachadorian is a veteran suburban Philadelphia editor and writer. He has won local, state and national writing awards. He also blogs for the Daily Local News. Reach the author at andyh@dailylocal.com
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